If you’re thinking about picking up Kena: Bridge of Spirits, you’re probably eager to learn more about it. Games are an investment in time and money, so it’s good to know what to expect. And being a modern game, you might wonder if Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an open-world game. Though it doesn’t fit neatly into that description, it is fair to discuss whether or not the game’s world holds up to other open-ended titles.
Is Kena: Bridge of Spirits an open-world game?
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is “not quite an open-world game” according to the developers. It’s perhaps better to think of it as a semi-open world, where locations are all connected by a central hub. You can explore environments freely, but the world itself isn’t truly open.
In case it’s not yet clear, the true answer to this question is based in technicality. You might also call it semantics. In a truly open-world game, the player can freely explore the whole of the environment to discover pathways or objectives themselves. Grand Theft Auto 5 is an easy example. This sets it apart from other designs that direct players through specific areas. Completely linear games, on the other side of the spectrum, don’t allow players to deviate from a set course whatsoever.
It's not quite an open-world game, but there are some opportunities for exploration!
— Kena: Bridge of Spirits (@emberlab) July 25, 2020
In this sense, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is more like older RPGs or action-adventure games. There are set environments, they are all connected, and you can explore them at will, depending on your progress in the story. But you must navigate them through the confines of the game’s design. You can’t, for instance, simply walk from the start area straight into the final area.
Otherwise, though, that feeling of wide-open exploration should still be present in Kena: Bridge of Spirits’ design. There is a path to take, and the game will point you in the right direction, but you’re free to tread off the main course to discover secrets on your own.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is not an open-world game, but it still allows for some degree of open exploration. You’ll still be able to poke around and explore whenever you like, you just won’t be able to roam the wide open world without limitation. Thankfully, with super-fast boot times, the environments should feel totally seamless.
